The Hong Kong firm, which already owns thousands of hectares of vines, said it has bought the Hanwood vineyard in Griffith, New South Wales, as well as the Station and Kirkgate vineyards in South Australia.

It paid A$15.7m for 700ha of land, of which 650 is under vine. CK Life Sciences is a subsidiary of billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Holdings.

The deal is another example of Asia-based investors showing an interest in Australian vineyards and wine estates, and it follows the agreement of a free trade deal between Australia and China.

McWilliam’s has agreed to rent the vineyards from CK Life Sciences for 15 years, with the option to renew for a further five years.

The deal is similar to one that CK Life Sciences completed in New Zealand last year. It bought 596ha of vineyards from Mud House Wines for around NZ$46m and then leased the land to Accolade Wines, owner of Hardys in Australia.

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